You’ve got your skincare basics down: cleansing, toning, moisturizing, sunscreen. You always have your hat and sunnies and even remember to protect your hands (out, damn sunspot!). But do you think about your neck?

The neck is one of the first places to show aging—and one of the most neglected. As the skin of the neck is thinner with fewer sebaceous glands, it’s prone to wrinkles, sagging and that dreaded crepe-y look. (One upside: You rarely get pimples on your neck.) Neck skin is almost as delicate as the skin on your eyelids, yet few of us give it the care and attention it needs.

We’ve got you (and your neck) covered—from everyday habits to surprise neck-saggers and more targeted treatments if you’re headed into wattle territory.

Adopt These Habits

• Include your neck and chest in your skincare routine. It doesn’t take much more time and effort to keep going from your chin and jaw down to your neck.
• Always moisturize. It’s the least you can do for the drier, thinner skin of your neck. Try Alastin Restorative Neck Complex. With Trihex Technology, this rich treatment supports the production of new elastin and collagen. Translation: You’ll get a firmer, hydrated neck with less redness and discoloration.
• Renew with retinol. You already know the benefits of retinol for your face. Its collagen-creating and skin-tightening benefits extend to your neck, too. Try Alastin Retinol Renewal, which is retinol encapsulated in a lipid so it’s gentle enough to use nightly.
• Mandatory sunscreen! Again, the thinness of your neck skin means UV rays do more damage, more quickly. ZO Skin Health Broad Spectrum Sunscreen SPF 50 protects against UVA and UVB rays. It also has ZOX12 complex for antioxidant protection against infrared (IR-A) rays.

Quit These

• Looking down at your cellphone all day will lead to sagging and wrinkles. Try to keep your phone at eye-level instead of bringing your head down to look at your hand.
• Ease up on perfume. The alcohol in your fave fragrance dries your skin, leading to wrinkles. Spray only your wrists if you reapply throughout the day.
• Ditch double pillows. Not only does this enhance the creases in your neck, but it may lead to muscle stiffness by morning. Use a single pillow to keep your neck long while you sleep.

Finally, if you’re feeling too far gone, try Ultherapy, which uses ultrasound energy to lift and tighten the skin. It’s the only FDA-approved, non-invasive procedure to help with wrinkles and sagging on the décolletage. Ultherapy stimulates collagen growth at a deep level so the turkey neck gets tighter. 

As always, prevention is the first step in avoiding an aging neck. But contact OrangeTwist for a free consultation if you want to get more serious about keeping your neck youthful.